The governing body of USA cricket has confirmed that they will welcome Ireland cricket to play 2 T20 international matches bilateral series in December 2021. Ireland is the full member of the ICC whereas the USA is the associate member of the International Cricket Council. This will be the very first time for the USA to host a full member of ICC for a series. The series will start with the first T20I on 22 December 2021 and will conclude on 23 December 2021 at Central Broward Park, Lauderhill.
Andrew Balbirnie, a right-handed batsman of Ireland, will lead the team for the Ireland vs USA T20I series 2021. On the other hand, Monank Patel, a top-order batsman, most probably will be the captain of the USA T20 Squad. Josh Little, the reputed player of Ireland, will not be included in the Irish squad for the tour because of his business in the Lanka Premier League.
Both the teams have faced each other in T20 international matches on 4 occasions and every time Ireland defeated the USA in all four matches. The last T20I between both the teams was played in ICC World T20 Qualifier at Belfast on 12 July 2015. Ireland won that match by 46 runs. As of December 2021, Ireland has played 106 T20I matches in which they got the victory in 44 matches, lost 53 T20I, with 2 ties and 7 without any result. On the other hand, the USA has played 14 T20I matches in which they won 7 matches and lost 5 matches with 1 tie and 1 without any outcome.
Currently, Ireland is at the number 14th position in the ICC Men’s T20 team ranking whereas the USA is at the number 30 position. So, it is going to be very interesting how an associate member will perform on their homeland against a full member of ICC in December 2021.